DENTON, TX, Oct. 22, 2022 — One male suspect has been arrested after breaking into Denton City Hall and causing extensive damage to the City Manager’s Office (CMO) suite.
At approximately 10:07 p.m., officers were dispatched to a burglary-in-progress call at City Hall in the 200 block of East McKinney Street. A City employee reported that a shirtless male had kicked a glass entry door to City Hall numerous times before gaining entry to the facility. The employee further reported that once inside, this male suspect entered the City Manager’s Office suite and began causing a loud disturbance. The employee did not know whether the suspect had any weapons on his person.
Officers arrived on scene and entered the building, where they immediately observed items being thrown into the CMO hallway. Officers could also hear crashing and banging noises consistent with items being damaged or destroyed in the offices. Officers kept their distance and called out for the unknown suspect to come out, but the suspect did not make himself visible to officers. The suspect instead barricaded himself inside the offices and refused to respond to officers’ repeated attempts to speak with him. After approximately an hour, the Little Elm and Hickory Creek police departments arrived on scene with their search K-9s to assist in locating the suspect inside the building. The suspect was found, and successfully taken into custody without incident.
Once the suspect was detained, officers entered the building to assess the damages to the CMO suite. In the police report, the primary officer described the City Manager’s Office as suffering “total destruction.” Officers located both urine and fecal matter inside of the office, in addition to various broken electronics, shattered glass, an overturned and destroyed desk, damaged walls, and shattered sentimental personal items, among other damages. Although the City Manager’s Office sustained the most severe damages, several other offices were impacted as well. The physical damages to the offices are estimated to be around $10,000 in losses.
Following the assessment of the damages, the suspect, identified as 48-year-old David Lopez, was arrested for Criminal Mischief with a loss greater than $2,500 and less than $30,000. He was also charged with Criminal Trespass for entering or remaining in a building after its closure without consent. It was additionally discovered that Lopez had already been criminally trespassed from this location in October 2020. He was booked into the City of Denton jail without incident.
For Media Inquiries, Please Contact: Officer Allison Beckwith (940) 349-8558